Everything about Edmund Barton totally explained
Sir Edmund Barton,
GCMG,
QC (
18 January 1849 –
7 January 1920),
Australian politician and judge, was the first
Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the
High Court of Australia.
Barton's greatest contribution to Australian history was his management of the federation movement through the
1890s. Elected at the inaugural
1901 federal election, Barton resigned from the position of Prime Minister of Australia in 1903 and became a judge of Australia's High Court.
Early life
He was born in the suburb of
Glebe, the ninth child of William Barton, a stockbroker, and Mary Louise Barton. He was educated at
Fort Street High School and
Sydney Grammar School, where he was twice
dux and
School Captain and met his life-long friend and later fellow
Justice of the High Court of Australia,
Richard O'Connor. He graduated with first class honours and the
University Medal in classics from the
University of Sydney, where he also demonstrated considerable skill at batting (but not in fielding) at
cricket. Barton became a barrister in 1871. On a cricket trip to
Newcastle in 1870, he met Jane Mason Ross, whom he married in 1877.
In 1879, Barton
umpired a cricket game at
Sydney Cricket Ground between New South Wales and an English touring side captained by
Lord Harris. After a controversial decision by Barton's fellow umpire, the crowd spilled onto the pitch, leading to
international cricket's first riot. The publicity that attended the young Barton's presence of mind in defusing that situation reputedly helped him take his first step towards becoming Australia's first prime minister, winning a state lower house seat later that year.
State politics
In 1876 Barton stood for the
Legislative Assembly in the poll of the graduates of the
University of Sydney (who were required to wear gowns for the occasion), but was beaten by
William Charles Windeyer 49 votes to 43. He was defeated again for the same seat in 1877, but won in August 1879. When it was abolished in 1880, he became the member for
Wellington, from November 1880 to 1882, and
East Sydney, from November 1882 to January 1887. At this stage he considered it "almost unnecessary" to point out his support for free trade. In January 1889, he agreed to being appointed Attorney General in
George Dibbs's
Protectionist government, despite his previous support for free trade. This government only lasted until March, when Parkes formed government again.
Campaign for federation
1891 National Australasian Convention
Edmund Barton was an early supporter of
federation, which became a serious political agenda after
Henry Parkes'
Tenterfield Oration, and was a delegate to the March 1891 National Australasian Convention. At the convention he made clear his support for the principle that "trade and intercourse … shall be absolutely free" in a federal Australia. He also advocated that, not just the lower house, but the upper house should be representative and that appeals to the
Privy Council should be abolished. He also took part in producing a draft constitution, which was substantially similar to the
Australian Constitution enacted in 1900. including in the Sydney suburb of
Ashfield where he declared that "For the first time in history, we've a nation for a continent and a continent for a nation". By March 1897 he was considered "the acknowledged leader of the federal movement in all Australia".
For much of
1902 Barton was in
England for the coronation of King
Edward VII. This trip was also used to negotiate the replacement of the naval agreements between the Australian colonies and the United Kingdom (under which Australia funded
Royal Navy protection from foreign naval threats) by an agreement between the Commonwealth and the United Kingdom.
Barton was a moderate conservative, and advanced liberals in his party disliked his relaxed attitude to political life. A large, handsome, jovial man, he was fond of long dinners and good wine and was given the nickname "Toby Tosspot" by
The Bulletin. In September 1903, Barton left Parliament to become one of the founding justices of the
High Court of Australia. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by Deakin on
24 September.
Judicial career
On the bench Barton was considered a good and "scrupulously impartial" judge and adopted the same position of moderate conservatism he'd taken in politics. Along with his colleagues
Griffith and
O'Connor, he attempted to preserve the autonomy of the States and developed a doctrine of "implied immunity of instrumentalities", which prevented the States from taxing Commonwealth officers, and also prevented the Commonwealth from arbitrating industrial disputes in the States' railways. They also narrowly interpreted the Federal Government's powers in commercial and industrial matters.
[ After 1906 Barton increasingly clashed with Isaac Isaacs and H.B. Higgins, the two advanced liberals appointed to the court by Deakin.
]Death and family
Barton died of heart failure at the Hydro Majestic Hotel, Medlow Bath, New South Wales. He was interred in South Head General Cemetery in the Sydney suburb of Vaucluse (see Waverley Cemetery). He was survived by his wife and six children:[
]Honours
Barton refused knighthoods in 1887, 1891 and 1899, but agreed to be made a Knight Grand Cross of St Michael and St George in 1902.[ He received an honorary LL.D. from the University of Cambridge in 1900.][Further Information]
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